The Amazing Graysons
by Inconstant Logic
Summary: His parents fall and fall and fall, and Dick is burning with rage and horror and despair. "A Matter of Family", from Dick's point of view. Very mildly graphic descriptions.


The dull roar makes it impossible to hear his heart beating, but then Dick wonders if it even _is_ beating. He sees his mother arc away from him, a devastating look of shock and understanding on her face. In a fraction of a second, he knows _exactly_ what his mom is thinking, the soul-crushing realization clear in her cry.

"_Dick!"_

She will never see him again.

Dick will never sit at the ratty little table in their trailer eating scrambled eggs (it's the only thing his dad can cook, but they're always _fantastic_, so it balances out) and listening to his mother laugh about how their snake handler Hule was threatening his snakes with the possible future of becoming the lining of a snake-skin jacket if they didn't behave. He will never learn the secret trapeze stunt his dad had promised to teach him after this show.

A parade of images is flashing in his mind, a mocking statement of what he is about to lose right in front of his eyes, without any way to prevent it from happening.

His first date.

His first day at high school.

His new friends.

Moving into college.

Starting his first job.

His parents will never see any of it.

And Dick can't _imagine_ that, because family is all he's ever had. They've moved around so much for the show that he's never been able to keep friends. The people in the other acts are great, but they all concentrate on their own acts, their own insular little circles that give them comfort. Dick has only loved his mom and dad, his best friends since he was born.

His parents fall and fall and fall, and Dick is burning with rage and horror and despair, and hot tears are running down his face, and he collapses in on himself, clutching the platform like a lifeline. He hears a sickening _thud_, and he tastes bile in his mouth because he knows that everything he's ever loved has just been stolen from him, stolen by that _monster_, all because his parent are too brave and too good to deal with criminals.

Dick feels something bubble up inside him, and prays he won't throw up. Instead of bile, a wail escapes from him. A heartbroken, pleading _"No"_. And once he hears that wail, it's nearly impossible to stop. It would be so easy to just start screaming, to start howling at the sky, at the crowd, at his parent's bodies that are lying spread-eagled on the ground _so far below him_.

He starts gasping, trying to keep the pressure from exploding, and looks at the audience. There are only blurs of colour and movement and a mixture of screams and cries and gasps. Dick almost thinks he's looking through fog, until his eyes sharpen and he sees a man sitting back in his sit, crossing his arms behind his head and looking up towards Dick.

_Zucco._

And in that moment, Dick feels hatred beyond what he thought was possible for any one person to feel. It makes his hands tremble and his breath quicken and he's never felt this sort of blood lust, but he can only think that nothing will ever be the same again, but maybe the world will hurt a little less if Tony Zucco hurts _a lot_ more.

He wants to hurt this man in any way possible, wants to take Juniper's throwing knives and attack, or unleash Tigger and Simba on him and watch them bite and claw. Zucco has taken Dick's parents; it's only fair that Dick takes something from Zucco.

Dick stands up, shakily, and moves towards the ladder, intent on reaching Zucco and hurting him before anyone can stop him. But before he can even get his feet on the top rung, Sigmund the fire-eater is there, and there is a hollow look in his eyes that abruptly reminds Dick of what he has just lost.

"Dick…", Sigmund begins, reaching towards his cheek. His fingers brush gently against his face, and it's only then that Dick realizes he hasn't stopped crying, that his face is wet and his nose is snotty and his eyes are sore and puffy. Before he realizes what he's doing, he's clutching at Sigmund's red jacket, wrapping his arms around the man and gripping on to him tightly.

The blonde man grunts a little, but straightens up with Dick clinging to him like a vine, and starts his slow climb down the ladder. Dick hides his face in the man's shoulder, feeling his tears soak through the jacket.

Once they reach the bottom, Sigmund moves towards the backstage, away from the crowd and screams and Zucco. But they pass by his parent's bodies, and despite the large man's attempt to quickly pass by, Dick still sees the odd angle that his dad's neck is bent at, the vacant gaze of his mom, and the growing puddle of blood underneath their bodies. He shudders, and squeezes his eyes shut tightly.

He realizes that he has no family, and will probably lose his home, too. The government wouldn't want a child to live all on his own in a circus, of course.

His parents have lost their lives.

It is only right that Dick uses his to avenge them.

* * *

_A/N: I wrote this a while back for the episode "A Matter of Family" for The Batman, because that's probably one of my favourite episodes of the entire animated series. I'm not a hardcore Batman fan, so this might somehow have some glaring error noticeable only by those who live and breathe Batman. If there is such an error... close your eyes, I don't really want to edit this, I like it. Well, have a lovely March break! (Mine seems a bit bleak in the weather department, for some reason the weather up here in the Great North is getting warmer and warmer; people have tossed a strange, foreign word around quite often: "spring". Ughhh)_


End file.
